Do the Right Thing to Respect Our Cultural Diversity

Certain parts of the Interlok novel, which is a reading text for literature in secondary schools starting this year have created a lot of discussions. It is understandable given the fact that the issue being debated is both a sensitive and emotional one to the Indian community. There is a need to respect the sentiments expressed by many quarters which comprise of political, social, linguistic and religious segments of the Indian community. The fact remains that the particular word is highly derogative and pejorative. Its use, even verbally, has been rejected by the community (“Don’t let a word come between us”-NST, Jan.17). It is the right of the Indian community to determine what it deems as acceptable and those that need to be rejected. It is a norm set by the community and it is only fair to expect that other communities respect norms set by it. Likewise, the Indian community would not and should not question norms set by other communities should they become subject of controversy. In the true spirit of maintaining our rich cultural diversity, the parts which are deemed derogatory and pejorative should be dropped.

There are, of course, many questions which have been raised to maintain the status-quo. Those include, why this has become an issue now when the book has been in existence for about 40 years. Please do not forget that only starting this year the book has been made a reading text for hundreds of thousand students nationwide. For the question, doesn’t caste system exist in the Indian community? This caste system, which is certainly not endorsed by Hinduism, is a man-made structure, as seen in many other civilizations, to justify their own position and interests. It has to be borne in mind that the use of this particular word in question or the caste on the whole is discriminatory and is against the very core of human rights of individuals. The other argument that, this would not be an issue if it is taught in context, leaves us with very little options. It is questionable whether the teachers will be able to explain the use of the word in the proper context given the fact that the majority of the teachers teaching Malay Literature are non-Indians. We also cannot ignore the possibilities that the term may be used by students with a derogatory connotation.

As such, we request the authorities to do the right thing to respect our rich cultural diversity.